My kids (ages one and three) have been sick with what looked like runny noses for a few days now, and yesterday my sister-in-law went to urgent care and was diagnosed with strep throat. My sister-in-law watched my kids for a few hours on Friday.

I absolutely hate this, but I think it would be very irresponsible for me to come to the Gathering today, and possibly spread strep. I know the universe will keep on working without my attendance, but I must apologize to the five folks with whom I agreed to fight.

Best of luck to everyone today. Sorry I can't be there, and I will aim to see you all in the spring.

That was a great experience. Thanks to everyone who showed up to support the tribe. I've been given some direction on things to train and it was humbling to see such grace under fire by the more experienced members. Hopefully by next year I can step it up a notch.

Absolutely awesome day. Dog Brothers 2010 Open Gathering of the pack was everything I hoped it would be! Lots of great fighters without ego trips, hard fights and great camaraderie after. Old friends, new friends, bruises, contusions, only a couple broken bones...... Observations?

So many good fights and fighters its hard to know where to begin......

Hose fight was too short - I wanted to see round 2!A fighter from Sunnyvale, CA was combining Parkour and stick - literally bouncing off the walls. Unbelievable agility!3 way knife fight - everybody dies - a LOTDon't jump Boo Dog in an alley. On second thought, if you're going to fight him, better jump him in an alley....a DARK alleyLittle Johning a short staff is not a good idea against a fighter with real power who isn't Little Johning.Closing on someone with really good triangular footwork is not as easy as it may sound.So much more, but its a bit of a blur now. Others can fill in more.

Definitely a huge learning experience for me. Got some areas to work on, but I'm more inspired than ever! I will definitely be there next year!

Thanks to Howling Dog, David, Pappy Dog and Poi Dog for the fights, Howie for the inspiration, and Guro Crafty for the guidance. Woof!

An outstanding day!!! 45 fighters; the Gathering went over four hours-- without having kept count I am quite positive that this Gathering had the largest number of fights ever/highest number of fights per fighter ever.

So much to say that , , , I am speechless in the wordless state for now , , , and so will remain silent for now.

"Higher consciousness through harder contact."(c)Crafty DogGF

PS: Those who were accepted into or ascended within the Tribe, please post on the Dog Brothers Tribe thread reminding me.

an awesome day of fighting, it was awesome to see everyone again special thanks to the NOHO tribe you guys always make us feel welcomed ( except for Poi )i also want to give props to Shawn , Gord and AJ( take it and go) for an excellent first time outing. and thanks to all of you who sang the Canadian national anthem when i stepped on the mats with Pappy

thanks to everybody who fought, much respect to you all!being a first timer and battling a severe case of vaginitis, i was all nerves, until the first real hard shot hit me then i was kinda pissed! thanks to rene for the push to fight, in my case he was pushing me quite a bit and gave me some very good motivational cues for getting into the proper mindset.i especially appreciate the friendship after the fights. i dont think i have laughed so hard in three years!! i hope we all feel as enriched by this experience as i feel and i hope to see you in april.anybody got some tips on healing stick hickeys...rapidly?much respect and im trading meow for WOOF!!Gord...from calgary but adopted by toronto.

Thanks to everyone for a great experience -- my second Gathering. In particular, thanks to everyone I fought: Peter, Ryan, Tim, Jeremiah, and Ryoga. There were too many interesting moments from the day to enumerate them here, but I will say I appreciate the opportunity to participate in such an extraordinary event. I enjoyed it immensely, especially the spirit of mutual encouragement making it possible for so many people to come together and build each other up in this way. That requires a great deal of trust and a great deal of bravery, and I count myself lucky to have found a place where such exchange is possible.

Thank you all for such an amazing day. I learned alot at the gathering and its nice to see new faces and take on new styles. My injures are healing up just fine if anyone was worried, they are a reminder of the need to protect myself at all times and not to over look the little things.Though I'm glad it happen, I'll be far better prepared next time.

I forgot the name of the person I fought last, but his defense and evasion was amazing. At first i thought it was reckless running but then I saw the science of it. best way to win a fight, is to not get hit in the first place.

Thanks for all the encouraging words and praise thought out the day. it Only fulled my desire to perform. And had I not been tagged at the end I would have gone for a 5th fight.

Belated congratulations to all the fighters who participated in this past Gathering! Sounds like a great time was had by all as well as a great learning experience.

Logged

"A good stickgrappler has good stick skills, good grappling, and good stickgrappling and can keep track of all three simultaneously. This is a good trick and can be quite effective." - Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny

First, I'd like to thank Mark "C-Fu Dog" and Ryoga for the great fights. I'd love to talk to you guys to get your perspectives on how the fights went sometime- feel free to message me.

Next, I'd like to thank Nick (Pappy Dog), and Mat (Boo Dog) for being great instructors and just generally cool dudes. Also, a big shout out to Poi, Seeing Eye, Junkyard, and everyone from the NoHo crew. You guys are awesome. I'm spoiled to be able to train with guys at this level.

I can't wait to do this again! My only regret would be not getting more fights lined up.

Now it's time to up the training a notch. More stick. More knife. More grappling. More sparring. More cardio. More everything!

I was really pumped about the contributions made by my two "first timer" room mates Jake Skully and Matt Berry(sp?). Jake started training me this summer and I talked him into fighting this year himself. It didn't take much " talking into". I was totally psyched by his showing. He was passionate and brave hearted. He ROCKED. Matt flew in by himself from Boston not even knowing where he was gonna stay until he overheard snd then approached a few of us staying at the Marriott. He was getting ready to find a bench to sleep on until the gym opened in the AM but Jake and I offered him some pillows and carpet real estate. We later found that he has been single-mindedly training for 4 months from videos etc w his cousin just to fight at the gathering. Matt was passionate and red hot. I am fairly certain that both enjoyed the cuisine and will be back for second helpings.

I want to thank everyone involved for helping to improve all of us and I love the way that I walked away from my first gathering with the sense that everyone there really had an astute sense of what martial arts are really about. I definitely can't wait until Europe and the next gathering here in the US.

Again, I thank each of you with all of my heart, as well as the NOHO tribe and my opponents, Pappy Dog, Robert, and William. Thank you.